1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of network information handling systems, and more particularly to a system to aggregate keyboard video mouse control across multiple server chassis.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
One type of information handling system that provides flexibility in managing network information is a blade server having plural server blades. A blade server is scalable to meet processing requirements for network information by increasing the number of server blades as network processing requirements increase. The server blades are supported in a server chassis and typically interfaced with each other and a network by two managed Ethernet switches per chassis. The deployment of blade servers may include a large number of chassis with each chassis having a number of server blades to process information. For instance, a deployment of blade servers may include 25 chassis in one or more racks with each chassis having several blades interfaced by two Ethernet switches so that the blade server has a total of 50 Ethernet switches capable of interfacing with a network.
On challenge in high density blade servers relates to connecting and cabling keyboard video and mouse control. In such systems, the cabling may be cumbersome due to the many cables used for connection as well as possibly multiple keyboard video mouse (KVM) switches.
A known solution in non-blade type servers daisy chains the servers together to a single keyboard video mouse controller. The controller is located on another server. However, with this solution, if the daisy chain is broken, servers beyond the break may not be accessed.
Another known solution in blade servers implements a remote KVM controller via system management hardware (also referred to as KVM over IP). However, this solution is often costly because a high speed microcontroller as well as an Ethernet interface is used for the implementation. Additionally, this solution may not fit within a small blade form factor.